And this is exactly why people who don’t know Greek,, should never be allowed to make doctrine. The Greek does NOT say this.
”Εἴ τις δοκεῖ προφήτης εἶναι ἢ πνευματικός, ἐπιγινωσκέτω ἃ γράφω ὑμῖν ὅτι κυρίου ἐστὶν·38 εἰ δέ τις ἀγνοεῖ, ἀγνοεῖται.39 ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου, ζηλοῦτε τὸ προφητεύειν, καὶ τὸ λαλεῖν μὴ κωλύετε γλώσσαις·” 1 Cor. 14:37-39 Greek
In the first place, the word “man” does not appear at all! Instead, it is the gender neutral term, τις tis, which means “anyone, someone”.
So,“If anyone thinks...”
τις is also used in the second sentence, where some biased translator has replaced it with “man.” So, “if anyone is ignorant”
Second, there is NO himself at all! That would be autos, and it does not appear here, in the whole passage. Neither, does “him” appear anywhere in the passage. The “let him acknowledge...” should properly be, “let them..” But it is probably 3rd person singular imperative, and in English, we do not have a way of just writing, “Let acknowledge...” because in Greek the subject is contained with the verb.
As far as “brethren” which would be “brothers” in correct English, I guess people so quickly forget, that even 20 years ago, the masculine included the feminine. But, English has changed and moved on, Koine Greek has not. Masculine includes the feminine, so when Paul says “brothers” he is indeed addressing, “brothers and sisters” especially in light of the fact that in no place in this passage does the word “man, male” or even “anthropos” which generally means “humans” and Paul uses it that way, and uses “aner” when he wants it to say, “man, male, husband.” Because there is no separate word for husband in Greek, or for that matter, “woman, female, wife” is only one word.
So, here is the NET Bible’s Translation. Now, the NET NT translation was headed up by Daniel Wallace, who is completely complimentarian. But, he has the integrity to stay faithful to the Biblical languages, where gender neutral and gender non-specific words are concerned. (Although I am not quite certain about verse 38, I will look it up in the extended notes version. - both for “recognize” and for using “he” which is simply not there, but that makes it hard to translate it into English.) Neither do the words “command”or “commandment” appear in Greek! Again, the use of “he” below is an effort to stay true to the verb being 3rd person singular, and we have no gender neutral term for that. Probably going to “they” is a better alternative, but then, you are using 3rd person plural, not true to the Greek, either.
”If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So then, brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid anyone from speaking in tongues.” 1 Cor. 14:37-39 NET
Here, the NIV does exactly what I proposed, and uses the inclusive “they” rather than resorting to referring just to the male gender.
”If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.” 1 Cor. 14:37-39
Please note, the fact that this passage in Greek never refers “man,” or “him,” certainly not “himself,” or “he” and that “brothers” includes the “sisters,” and this is very elementary, basic Greek. You would learn this in the first 3 weeks of taking NT Greek. So, not a stretch to say that whatever version you have posted, is showing very biased, mistranslating, because of presuppositions about men and what they (men) think of women.
In fact, it only makes sense that Paul is addressing women, too, in light of earlier chapters, where he talked about women prophesing. Paul must truly get discouraged, when he sees what a mess some men have made of translating his letters!
